ai4bharat/Pralekha huggingface dataset:
Ministry of Coal
Augmenting Coal Supplies to Power Plants
A number of important steps have been taken in the Government, in the Coal India Limited  and Singareni Collieries Company Limited  to monitor and augment coal dispatches to the power houses. Some of the steps taken are:
- Coal stocks at the power plants are monitored constantly on the basis of daily CEA reports, which form the basis for CIL to advice its subsidiary companies to plan the movement of rakes, with specific reference to critical/supercritical plants, in coordination with the Zonal railways.
- In addition to the monitoring mechanism available at coal companies and CIL, coal supplies to Power Utility Sector is monitored regularly by an inter-ministerial sub-group comprising representatives of Ministry of Power, Ministry of Coal, Ministry of Railways, Central Electricity Authority, Ministry of Shipping, NITI Aayog, CIL etc. This sub-group has been meeting periodically, at times twice every week, in order to take various operational decisions for meeting any contingent situations relating to Power Sector including critical coal stock position for power plants.
- A committee of Secretary , Secretary  and Member , Railway Board has been jointly reviewing the coal transportation and supply on a regular basis.
- Comprehensive monitoring has been done for coal movement through rakes from CIL sidings, Washery sidings and Goods sheds.
- There has been close monitoring of turnaround time of rakes at the loading and unloading ends.
- An Innovative Monitoring Control Cell has been established in order to monitor supply related issues of the Power Houses and provide regular feedback to the MoC/CIL authorities.
- In order to meet the coal requirement of thermal Power Plants, CIL has offered coal through road mode from the available pithead stock to those Plants which are located within 50 Kms to 60 Kms from the nearest mines. As a result, power plants located within 50 Kms to 60 Kms have taken coal to fulfill their immediate coal requirement.
- Coal supplies to Power Sector from CIL have grown by 20%, 19%, 17%, 9% and 3% during the months of August-2017, September-2017, October-2017, November-2017 and December-2017 respectively over coal supplies during corresponding months of the last year.
To improve coal supplies to power plants, Indian Railways have augmented rakes availability for loading of coal to power plants. Turnaround time of rakes at loading end has improved. These efforts and close monitoring have resulted in increase in coal supplies to power plants from the level of 219 rakes per day from CIL sidings in September, 2017 to 270.6 rakes per day in March, 2018. Besides the rail projects which have been undertaken by the Railways, CIL has collaborated with the Indian Railways to undertake construction of railway lines on deposit basis and in the States of Jharkhand, Odisha and Chhattisgarh by formation of Joint Ventures. There are 14 rail projects which will augment coal evacuation and these are regularly monitored in the Ministry.
This information was laid in the House today in response to a question in Lok Sabha.
SBS/SK
Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying
AQUACULTURE FARMER FIELD SCHOOL AND LIVESTOCK FARMER FIELD SCHOOL INAUGURATED AT SOUTH 24 PARGANAS VILLAGE
Kolkata, 13 January 2021
Sonarpur, South 24 Parganas, West Bengal
ICAR-Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture and Sasya Shyamala Krishi Vigyan Kendra,  Sonarpur with their commitment towards the farming community have added another milestone in its road map by inaugurating two farm schools Aquaculture Farmer Field School  and Livestock Farmer Field School  in Sonarpur Block, South 24 Parganas, West Bengal. The leadership of Dr.B.N.Paul,Co-ordinator of SCSP Scheme and Dr. N.C. Sahu, Head, Sasya Shyamala Krishi Vigyan Kendra have led to piloting of AFFS and LFFS for empowering over 5000 farmers in 20 nearby villages in adopting aquaculture and animal husbandry technologies. Farmer Field School is a school without walls for improving the decision-making capacity of the farmers and facilitate cross learning opportunities. The two schools were inaugurated by Swami Sarvalokananda, Secretary, Ramakrishna Mission Ashram, Narendrapur.
The two field schools inaugurated today will contribute greatly to extension and advisory services delivery. In this programme Smt. Suniti Mondal and Sri Akshay Mondal the operator farmers were felicitated for adopting scientific practices and being the role model for the farming community. Dr. S. K. Roy, Director, ICAR-ATARI, Zone V, Kolkata appreciated the efforts made by ICAR-CIFA and SSKVK for helping the farmers for adopting scientific integrated farming system. He also emphasized upon innovations in extension and training.
A Farmer-Scientists interface meeting was also organised to gauge the interest and the visibility of the institute in bringing farmers, stake holders, state Government and KVK in one platform. The resource persons from ICAR-CIFA and SSKVK also interacted with farmers for their field problems and related queries. Around 200 farmers and farm women attended the programme maintaining COVID guidelines. The programme was coordinated by Dr.B.N.Paul, Principal Scientist, ICAR-CIFA and Dr.N.C.Sahu, Head, Sasya Shyamala Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Sonarpur.
Eminent dignitaries were present in the programme.
Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying
Status of Avian Influenza in the country
Till 16 January, 2021 cases of Avian Influenza have been confirmed in poultry in Latur, Parbhani, Nanded, Pune, Solapur, Yavatmal, Ahmednagar, Beed and Raigad districts of Maharashtra.
Moreover, Avian Influenza has been confirmed in Chhatarpur district of Madhya Pradesh ; Surat, Navsari and Narmada districts of Gujarat ; Dehradun district of Uttarakhand ; Kanpur district of Uttar Pradesh . Additionally, in Delhi, Pigeon and brown fish owl in Najafgarh and Heron in Rohini have tested positive for avian influenza.
As per the report, received from Central Poultry Development Organisation Mumbai, Govt of India unusual mortality of poultry have been found in the farm. The samples have been sent to the designated laboratory for testing.
In the State of Chhattisgarh RRTs has been deployed and culling of poultry is underway in epicentre of Balod district. Further, in Madhya Pradesh also RRTs have been deployed. Culling operation of poultry is underway in the epicentre of Harda district of Madhya Pradesh.
The central teams formed for monitoring the situation in the affected areas of the country are visiting the affected sites and conducting epistemological studies.
States have been requested to rethink their decisions to impose ban on sale of poultry and poultry products and allow selling of poultry and poultry products sourced from the non-infected areas/states. It is reiterated that consumption of well cooked chicken and eggs is safe for humans. Consumers should not heed to baseless rumours that are unscientific and often lead to confusion. These adversely affect poultry and egg markets and thereby poultry and maize farmers, who are already affected by the COVID 19 pandemic lockdown.
Following the advisories of the department, states are undertaking awareness generation activities through newspaper advertisements, social media platforms etc. Also, continues efforts to generate awareness about Avian Influenza and how to deal with the situation is being shared among the general public through various media platforms including social media platforms like Twitter and Face book handles.
NITI Aayog
NITI Aayog to release the fourth edition of “The Healthy States, Progressive India” ranking States performance on 27th of December 2021
NITI Aayog as the premier policy ‘Think Tank’ of the Government of India, believes in the mantra ‘what gets measured gets done. As a part of cooperative & competitive federalism, NITI Aayog and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare  work to continuously nudge states/UTs towards improvements in health outcomes.
In 2017 the National Institution for Transforming India  in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare  and the World Bank initiated an annual Health Index for tracking Overall Performance and Incremental Performance on health across all states and Union Territories . The objective of the Annual Health Index is to track progress on health outcomes and health systems performance, develop a healthy competition and encourage cross-learning among states and UTs. Health Index Scores and rankings for states and UTs are generated to assess incremental performance  and overall performance . The exercise is expected to help drive state/UT's efforts towards the achievement of health-related Sustainable Development Goals  including those related to Universal Health Coverage  and other health outcomes.
Health Index is a weighted composite score incorporating 24 indicators covering key aspects of health performance. The domains covered in the report are Health Outcomes, Governance and Information, and Key Inputs and Processes.
These Health Index Reports aims to nudge the States/UTs towards building robust health systems and improving service delivery. The importance of this annual tool is reemphasized by MOHFW’s s decision to link this Health Index to incentives under National Health Mission. This Report has tried to shift the focus from budget spending, inputs, and outputs to outcomes.
A robust, acceptable mechanism is used for measuring the performance- indicators are agreed, data is collected online through a portal maintained by NITI, which is then validated through an independent validation agency selected through a transparent bidding process, the validated data sheets are shared with the states for verification, after which data is finalized and used for analysis and report writing.
The Health Index is a useful tool to measure and compare the overall performance and incremental Performance across states/UTs over time and is an important instrument in understanding the variations in performance across various parameters including health outcomes, governance, and data integrity, and key inputs and processes. It has strengthened the culture of use of data at the state/UT level to monitor performance and is contributing to the agenda of improving the availability, quality, and timeliness of data in most states/UT. Through this report, the annual performance of the state/UT gets monitored at the highest level of the government. The report for the Financial Year 2019-20 will be released on 27th of December 2021 at 12.00 pm.
Ministry of Culture
National Archives of India acquires the valuable collection of acclaimed Bio-gas Scientist Dr. Ram Bux Singh
National Archives of India has acquired the valuable collection of late Dr. Ram Bux Singh, an internationally acclaimed scientist, who revolutionized the field of biogas technology with his groundbreaking contributions on 26 September 2023. Born in Sitapur District, Uttar Pradesh, India, Dr. Singh pursued his education in engineering and dedicated his life to the promotion, development, and dissemination of renewable energy, specifically focusing on bio-gas technology. His entire life was devoted to the establishment of an indigenous, home-grown mechanism for generating and providing low cost fuel which could be easily produced in a sustainable manner and provide clean energy.
These papers were rescued from neglect and obscurity by his family, and the material is rich in variety and archival value. It consists of his credentials, as well as a substantial collection of extracts from journals, newspapers attesting his unique contributions, all meticulously documenting his work. The collection contains files, framed pictures, original identification cards and a collection of books in Hindi and English. This collection offers an unique corpus of material to the researcher interested in writing about post-independence scientific history and as such, is an invaluable addition to the rich Private Archives collection of National Archives of India.
The National Archives of India is the custodian of the non-current records of the Government of India and holds them in trust for the use of administrators and scholars and functions under the provisions laid down under The Public Records Act,1993. Archives are the priceless documentary heritage of any nation and as the premier archival institution in the country, the National Archives of India plays a key role in guiding and shaping the development of archival consciousness both at the national as well as state level. It is an Attached Office under the Department of Culture, Ministry of Culture. Established in March 1891 at Calcutta as the Imperial Record Department, it was shifted to New Delhi following the transfer of the capital from Calcutta to Delhi in 1911.National Archives of India has at present in its repositories a collection of Public Records, which includes files, volumes, maps, Bills assented to by the President of India, treaties, rare manuscripts oriental records, private papers, cartographic records, important collection of Gazettes and Gazetteers, Census records, assembly and parliament debates, proscribed literature, travel accounts etc. Besides non-current public records, NAI has a rich and ever growing collection of private papers of eminent Indians from all walks of life, who have all made significant contributions to our national life and identity.
For more details, visit website: www.nationalarchives.nic.in
Ministry of Textiles
International Women’s Day to be celebrated in Nashik by Mumbai Office of Development Commissioner for Handlooms
Mumbai Office of Development Commissioner for Handlooms under Ministry of Textiles, Government of India will celebrate International Women’s Day in Maharashtra state. One day function for the same will be organised on 8th March in Nashik near Hanuman Mandir, Bajrang Dal Chowk, Nagade in taluka Yeola.
Various programmes will be organised on that day between 11 a.m. and 5.00 pm in which women weavers will be felicitated. Moreover there will be Interaction with weavers especially women weavers and presentation of local success stories.
There will also be an Exhibition of designs, samples, products etc. developed by WSC, Mumbai. Various major initiatives taken for development of handloom sector will also be showcased.
Drawing competition will also be organised on this occasion. It will be inaugurated by Member of Parliament, Dr. Bharati Pawar.
National Awardees, Sant Kabir Awardees, National Merit Certificate Holders, All India Handloom Board Members, designers are requested to attend this function.
RT/MC/Source: Weaver’s Service Centre
(Visitor Counter : 207
Ministry of Earth Sciences
Isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall very likely over Tamil Nadu, Puducherry & Karaikal and over Kerala & Mahe
Minimum temperature very likely to be below normal over most parts of Northwest India during next 4-5 days
Cold Day/Severe Cold Day conditions likely at some parts of Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh & Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand
Cold Wave/Severe Cold Wave conditions at some parts also very likely over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh & Delhi and in isolated parts over Uttar Pradesh, north Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan
Dense to very dense fog conditions at isolated places very likely over Northwest India during next 4-5 days
According to the National Weather Forecasting Centre of the India Meteorological Department :
Significant Weather Features
♦ Under the influence of the cyclonic circulation over Comorin area & neighbourhood in lower tropospheric levels, fairly widespread to widespread rainfall with isolated heavy falls and moderate thunderstorm & lightning very likely over Tamil Nadu Puducherry & Karaikal, Kerala & Mahe and Lakshadweep during next 2-3 days and significant decrease in rainfall activity over these regions thereafter. Isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall very likely over Tamil Nadu, Puducherry & Karaikal on 12th & 13th and over Kerala & Mahe on 12th January, 2021.
♦ Due to the prevalence of dry north/northwesterly winds, minimum temperature very likely to be below normal over most parts of Northwest India during next 4-5 days which are very likely to cause Cold Day/Severe Cold Day conditions at some parts of Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh & Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand during next 3 days. Cold Wave/Severe Cold Wave conditions at some parts also very likely over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh & Delhi and in isolated parts over Uttar Pradesh, north Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan during next 3 days. Ground Frost is also very likely in isolated pockets over south Punjab, Haryana & Chandigarh and north Rajasthan during next 2 days.
♦ Dense to very dense fog conditions at isolated places very likely over Northwest India during next 4-5 days.
Weather Warning during next 5 days:
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Ministry of Road Transport & Highways
NHAI to Make Network Survey Vehicle Use Mandatory for Road Condition Survey
In line with its commitment to provide better roads to commuters, NHAI has decided to deploy Network Survey Vehicle  to enhance quality of the National Highways. Carrying out road condition survey using NSV on the National Highways has been made mandatory at the time of certifying completion of the project and every six months thereafter. The provision has also been included as a part of the standard bidding document of consultancy services.
The deployment will help in enhancing the overall quality of the highways as NSV uses the latest survey techniques such as high-resolution digital camera for 3600 imagery, Record images/videos at regular intervals, Laser Road Profilometer and other related technology for measurement of distresses in road surface.
NSV will also help collate data to analyse the Road condition including measurement of the road surface, surface cracking, potholes and patches. Apart from this, NSV will also provide data insights relating to side drains and road furniture etc.
Data collected through NSV survey shall be uploaded on NHAI’s ‘AI’ based portal Data Lake, where it will be analysed by Road Asset Management Cell  to assess the condition/roughness of road to prioritise for the maintenance.
The data will help maintaining up-to-date asset inventory and road assets condition status. Apart from delivering vital information on road network planning, providing relevant information on other aspects such as development of road safety measures, etc., it will also assist in developing Highway maintenance strategies, analysis of maintenance and selection of optimal maintenance regime.
The data collected through NSV surveys will highlight deficiencies in road conditions, prompting BOT operators/NHAI officials to take corrective steps to bring the road condition to the desired level. This will further result in better upkeep of National Highways, leading to more comfort and better travel experience for Highways users.
Prime Minister's Office
PM condoles loss of lives due to a mishap in Jalpaiguri, West Bengal
Announces ex-gratia from PMNRF
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has expressed deep grief over the loss of lives due to a mishap during Durga Puja festivities in Jalpaiguri, West Bengal.
The Prime Minister has also announced an ex-gratia of Rs. 2 lakhs to the next kin of deceased and Rs. 50,000 to those injured in the tragic mishap from Prime Minister's National Relief Fund .
The Prime Minister Office tweeted;
"Anguished by the mishap during Durga Puja festivities in Jalpaiguri, West Bengal. Condolences to those who lost their loved ones: PM @narendramodi"
"Rs. 2 lakh from PMNRF would be given to the next of kin of each of the deceased in the tragic mishap during Durga Puja festivities in Jalpaiguri, West Bengal. The injured would be given Rs. 50,000: PM @narendramodi"
Ministry of Civil Aviation
India to become the largest aviation market in a decade : Union Minister for Civil Aviation Shri Jyotiraditya Scindia;
Minister invites global companies to be part of India journey;
Shri Scindia delivers key-note address at the International Conference & Exhibition on Advanced & Short Haul Air Mobility For All  in Bengaluru.
Union minister of civil aviation Shri Jyotiraditya Scindia has said that India will become the largest civil aviation market in the next decade. The Minister informed that India has crossed the pre-COVID number of air travellers by 10 per cent to reach 4, 55,000 passengers daily, with airlines now operating at 80 to 90 per cent load factor. The penetration level in a population of 1.3 billion is, however, still three to five per cent. “We need more aircraft and more quickly because India has an insatiable desire to travel,” Shri Scindia said.
He was delivering key-note address at the International conference on Advanced & Short-Haul Air Mobility for All : Technologies for Ease of Transport in Bengaluru today.
Noting that India was proving itself to be a manufacturing hub in the aerospace sector, Shri Scindia invited global companies to be part of the Indian journey. The minister said, technology has jumped forward and become an important protagonist in future of mankind. “In that period of change and dynamic flux, the civil aviation sector is making unimaginable strides as never before", Shri Scindia added.
Speaking about opportunities in the Advanced Air Mobility  sector, the minister said the drone market will become a three lakh crore rupees market by 2030 employing three to four lakh persons. He stressed the need to have a good eco system and said AAM must have its basis in strong civil aviation infrastructure. For the Infrastructure to be built, the Minister said, urban city planners were needed to be involved. "Along with vertiports, we need to have charging points as well," he said.
Shri Scindia emphasised that the Government was no longer a regulator but a facilitator and partner to the industry.
Shri Salil Gupte, President, Boeing India and chairman, CII National Committee, said, AAM can do to India’s transport what telephony did to its communications. In telecom India skipped stages where the rest of the world was stuck. We have seen India leapfrog from landline to mobile to 4G to 5G roll-outs at lightning speed, Shri Gupte said.
Later, three Memorandum of Understandings were signed with international leaders in AAM space to commit investment in India.
The two-day conference which began yesterday was organised jointly by the Ministry of Civil Aviation in association with the Confederation of Indian Industry  and Karnataka Government. Experts from different fields of aviation presented papers also on topics such as "Creating Infrastructure Capabilities for AAM" and "Urban Air Traffic Management: Communication & Navigation System".
Shri Kamal Bail, Chairman, CII  President, Shri Darrel Swanson, Co-founder, EA Maven & Former Advisor, NASA and Shri Amit Dutta, Chairman, CII Taskforce on Short Haul Air Mobility were among those present.
S. Prakash
Deputy Director